Last week we got into the controversy over Spotify paying artists with less cash in exchange for increased rules.
The subject gave us to think: whether you are for or against the “experience” of Spotify, there is one thing you cannot deny: the streaming algorithms are so harsh that any kind of adjustment can fall. music industry in a frenzy.
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So just how much force does a set of rules like Spotify exert?
Of course, Spotify has replaced the way artists distribute their music, how much they get paid, how they get fans, and it has replaced the way that we, the consumers, pay attention to it. But has a set of rules like Spotify’s absolutely superseded the type of music created?
“I can hear a song that was made for Spotify,” artist and independent label owner Nina Las Vegas told Hack. “The fancy song that doesn’t offend anyone that you can have in the office? It’s the Spotify song, that’s the winning formula. “
But Nina says that even if an artist manages to create the best Spotify song and checks all the algorithmic boxes, it doesn’t lead to significant success.
“The challenge is that this song can generate a million views, but without fan participation. “
Alan Cross, music journalist and founder of Music Technology Group, agrees that there is the “sound of Spotify. ” He says that Spotify’s paid design, where a song only makes money if played for 30 seconds or more, is the culprit, causing a huge change in composition.
“Songs keep getting shorter. Spotify’s algorithms favor shorter songs because more people keep them longer. “
On the surface, there is something about this argument about Spotify that influences the length of the songs that are written. Right now, on Spotify’s Australian Top 50, only two of the ten most sensible songs Australians pay attention to today are longer than 3 minutes. And one of the longest songs in this Top 50 is rarely exactly a brand new release: Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams is over 4 minutes long, but it was released in 1977, decades before any other in the music industry. music never cares for 30 seconds. the transmission rule or the confusing mechanics of an artificially intelligent algorithm.
But the argument that Spotify is the explanation for why artists make 3-minute pop songs doesn’t go up. Musicians have been making songs of this length for over a century, more or less since Thomas Edison invented something called a phonograph, which featured records (with a playing time of, yes, about 3 minutes consistent with the side). ) in homes around the world.
Clem Onojeghuo, Unsplash
Music media has shaped the way songs are created, long before broadcast facilities came along.
Clem Onojeghuo, Unsplash
So Spotify might not be the explanation for why short songs are popular and successful, but as Alan Cross says, it can influence the way musicians write and think about those who open the bars of music.
“It subverted and replaced songwriting and production. So we have shorter introductions, we put the choruses at the beginning, we put up as many sugar hooks as we can before the song is halfway up. -minute: anything that can get artists up to a 30 minute note for everyone to collect. “
Alan argues that while Spotify cannot take credit for the concept of a 3-minute pop song, he is concerned that it could weigh the diversity of the music and make songwriting more homogeneous.
“What matters to me is that with millions of songs on Spotify, there is something else to pay attention to. If you hit the ‘Skip’ button, who cares? “If we’re going to watch awesome music to see fewer album tracks, we’re going to see fewer long songs,” Alan said.
“If you are a band like Tool, for example, why would you need to release an album with a lot of 10 and 15 minute songs? If you are not going to earn more money than someone who writes a 30 minute song? “
The point is, every time a new generation appears in the music industry, it is feared that it will annihilate it. Internet piracy on sites like Napster is a threat. Like iTunes. Commercial radio has replaced the sound and feel of pop songs. Like the MTV video clips.
Could streaming be one of the most recent advances in a long list of music industry upheavals that have been going on for decades?
Alan Cross, like many others, has an old message for consumers who are only looking for their favorite bands and songwriters.
“Buy merchandise, buy T-shirts, buy vinyl records, buy anything that has a higher margin. It’s the most productive thing you can do. “